Philanthropic Support for Public Education in the Southwest

This report examines the relationship between philanthropy and public schools in five states — Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas — that comprise the "Southwestern Region" served by Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL) under its federal contract as a Regional Educational Laboratory. While begun as a project to build our own understanding and to support institutional planning, this report speaks also to local school leaders, the philanthropy community, and education policy makers. We see a need for shared understanding among all of us if school reform is to realize anything like its full potential. We intend also that this report provide a stimulus for dialogue with each of these groups to help us refine and clarify the insights we have gained from data and anecdote, with the ultimate object of fostering shared understanding.